More to Pietersen's Twitter dumping: Watson

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson said on Thursday he was "blown away" by the dramatic axing of star England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

Written by Agence-France Presse

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Sydney:

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson said on Thursday he was "blown away" by the dramatic axing of star England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen was dropped from the five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches on Wednesday after a poor run for England.

The batsman responded to the news by posting a message on micro-blogging internet site Twitter which said: "Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too." He ended his message with a four-letter expletive.

Watson said it did not make sense for England's selectors to drop one of the world's most exciting batsmen, despite his lean trot.

Pietersen was named man of the series when England won the World Twenty20 in May, but now is not considered good enough to be in their Twenty20 or one-day sides for the coming series against Pakistan.

"There has to be other reasons, it can't just be for them saying it's performance. It can't just be that," Watson told The Sydney Morning Herald.

"You don't perform the way he did, and what everyone knows he can do.

"I think there must be other issues behind this, not just for not performing that well.

"I'm absolutely blown away that they dropped him. It's a bit outrageous really, for someone of his quality and the things he's done, to win them the World Twenty20 and then they go, 'You're out.'

"There has to be underlying issues that might come to the surface on his Twitter page."

Watson said he had no doubt Pietersen would be a part of the England side that plays in Australia for the Ashes here later this year, but saw the mischievous side of apparent problems within the England camp.

"It's good isn't it? You need as much ammo as you can get because I'm sure they'll try to use as much ammunition as they can get about us," Watson said.